Debswana Investing to Extend Life of Jwaneng Diamond Mine


De Beers and the government of Botswana plan to initially spend up to $500 million to extend the life of the
Jwaneng diamond mine, with longer-term investment in the project to total about $3 billion over the next 15 years.
The government of Botswana and De Beers, equal joint owners of Debswana Diamond Co., announced in late 2009 plans for major investments to extend the life of the Jwaneng open-pit diamond mine in Botswana, the world’s largest diamond mine by production value. The project, also known as Cut-8, will be the largest-ever single capital commitment in the private sector in Botswana and will ensure continuous production at the mine until at least 2025.

Initial capital expenditure for Cut-8 will total about $500 million. Taking into account all project stages, including feasibility, design, implementation and mining operations, and cost of plant and equipment, project investment is expected to total about $3 billion over the next 15 years.

Development of Cut-8 will require the removal of more than 700 million mt of waste between 2010 and 2024, exposing 78 million mt of diamond-bearing ore and deepening the Jwaneng pit to a depth of 650 m. The project is expected to provide access to 95 million carats of diamonds, which have the potential to be worth more than $15 billion over the life of the mine.

Fluor Corp. won the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract from Debswana to execute the Jwaneng Cut 8 project. After successfully completing the feasibility study for Debswana earlier in 2009, Fluor was awarded the procurement and construction management phases of the project valued at approximately $450 million in the last quarter of 2009.

Jwaneng Cut 8 is the latest in a number of projects being developed by Fluor as part of a portfolio which includes a new diamond processing plant at the Orapa diamond mine and the expansion of the Morupule coal mine. The Cut-8 expansion includes relocating and rebuilding portions of existing surface infrastructure that are impacted by the pit expansion.

As featured in Womp 2010 Vol 03 - www.womp-int.com